A petition was presented to CSU Channel Islands by local Chumash leaders that the dolphin be the University's official mascot. In March 1999, CSUCI officially adopted the dolphin as its mascot.
In Fall 2004, Student Government held an election to name our dolphin mascot and the name “Tsunami” was selected. On Dec. 26, 2004 a large earthquake and tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean (Indonesia) and subsequently, Student Government determined that it would be insensitive and inappropriate to name our dolphin mascot, Tsunami. The dolphin mascot continued without an official name until Spring 2012 when Student Government held another election to name our mascot and “Ekho” was selected. The name was selected due to echolocation abilities that dolphins possess and to represent the students' voice. The spelling of “Ekho” was selected as unique to our dolphin mascot.